Berlin Wall lost in translation – can anyone help?

I am correcting a document that has been translated from French into English and I have hit upon a term that keeps cropping up, and I simply don’t know what it is in English.

In French the term is ‘Paroi Berlinoise’. I always see it translated as ‘Berlin Wall’. In my (admittedly limited) experience as an engineer, I have never heard of a ‘Berlin Wall’ unless it is a type of reinforced concrete structure with graffiti on one side that typically has a design life of, say, forty years.

I don’t think this is what this document is talking about. Can anyone help? (It maybe useful to know that ‘paroi’ is a word tpyically associated with perimeter foundation walls; for example, a ‘paroi moulée’ translates as diaphragm wall)

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2 Comments

  1. Gemma Rees

    I think you’ll find this very helpful..

    http://www.agglo-nice.fr/operation_genie_civil.htm

    See point 2 and the diagram, basically it’s a temporary supportiong wall!!

    Bet you knew I’d come in handy one day… 😉

    xxx

  2. A temporary retaining wall! Of course. Thanks so much for that gem, Gemma!

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